Do you struggle with the rising cost of medical care? Wondering if there is an alternative to traditional health insurance? We left the world of conventional insurance and have not looked back. Find out how and why we made the switch.
As small business owners, we have struggled with covering our large family. We have been aware of medical savings plans but have stuck with a traditional HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) for the last 13 years. Over the years, the cost for this insurance has risen from $450 per month to more than triple that amount in 2014.
Prior to 2008, we relied exclusively on traditional medicine. However, after we connected our toxic home with our health (the 60 doctors we saw in our network treated the symptoms and didn’t diagnose the root cause), we decided to go outside that network. We found hope with a toxic mold specialist in Arizona, but the financial burden grew due to the multiple lab tests, office visits and supplements.
We turned to a healthier diet and alternative care. When this began to make a difference, we wondered if there was an alternative to the conventional medical system.
The traditional insurance model is profit based. Consumers pay premiums, utilize doctors in the network, and support the “industry.” There’s nothing wrong with that. But we asked, “Do we want to continue to invest in this model?” We allowed ourselves to think outside the box. What if there was another way?
With the exception of regular visits to the endocrinologist for our son with type 1 diabetes, we haven’t used a conventional doctor for 6 years. When we heard about medical sharing, a non-insurance approach to health care, our interest was piqued. In medical sharing, the member pays a flat fee to first help with administrative fees and then contributes directly to the health needs of another member. The monthly fee is a fraction of what we were paying. Assuming we continue to be proactive with our health, it could be a win-win.
There’s always the possibility of accident or surgery or long-term care. Our sharing plan will only contribute up to a certain level. There is a risk with any plan, as we discovered in Colorado. There is no perfect medical insurance.
What about Obamacare?
Christian cost-sharing ministries are exempt from the Affordable Care Act requirements. Interestingly, enrollment in these ministries has been on the rise. According to Christianity Today,
“Month-over-month enrollments doubled and tripled throughout the year at Samaritan Ministries—one of the country’s biggest health care sharing ministries, which now has about 113,000 members, 43 percent more than it did a year ago.
Another major program, Medi-Share, reported an average of 500 inquiries a day over the open enrollment period starting in October. Medi-Share saw membership jump to more than 82,000 members nationwide, with a 7 percent increase in March alone.
What does it look like when we go to the endocrinologist? We are now considered self-pay. We negotiate with the provider and if we don’t receive a discount, the ministry will negotiate for us.
Previously our visit to the endocrinologist cost more than $300. Insurance covered the remaining lab and physician fees. The total fees charged were in the $700 range per visit.
I took Colin to his check-up recently and was shocked to learn that with self-pay the charge was $170 for everything.
Minutes after writing this post, Colin cut his hand on a piece of glass. He clearly needed stitches. This would be our first emergency on the new plan. It was a Sunday afternoon. We elected to take him to Urgent Care.
We were given the option of a three-month plan with our local Urgent Care totaling $125. This enabled us to give Colin the care he needed at an affordable price. The follow-up was $35 to have the stitches removed.
I like the new plan. If we need to go to the doctor, we go. If we can find a natural way to help the problem, we try that. Acupuncture has been my “go to” whenever a health issue arises. It wasn’t covered by our insurance, so it felt like an added financial burden. Now I can go more readily. I feel less angst about spending money on organic food (something I consider a worthy investment), and enjoy the feeling of contributing directly to the needs of others.
Cost-sharing plans aren’t for everyone. But I’m thankful for Samaritan, Medi-Share and other ministries willing to give us the choice to opt out of conventional health insurance.
Samaritan recently featured our family in their monthly newsletter. To view the article, see Member Spotlight: Chris and Andrea Fabry. To learn more about Samaritan see their Frequently Asked Questions.
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The following interview appeared in the May 2014 newsletter of Samaritan Ministry. Samaritan offers a Biblical, non-insurance approach to medical care, and after six years of pursuing health via nutrition and other alternatives, we are excited about the unique program offered by Samaritan. (Read more about Samaritan here. Read more…
Andrea – I’d like to learn more about the Christian medical sharing program. I looked at the links you provided but I couldn’t see where to go to join, or how much it might cost each month. Thanks.
I will provide additional links. Thanks Starlene. We are currently paying less than 400 dollars a month for our large family.
Can you send the link for Samaritan ministries?
http://samaritanministries.org/
Thanks for including the link to the FAQ, that helps a lot!! 🙂
I like this idea. EXCEPT serious health issues.
Do you have a plan if someone gets cancer, or is in a horrible accident?
We have a super high deductible, and basically pay cash for everything, but I couldn’t live without the backup.
Probably because I’m a nurse…. I sure wish I was getting the 15k I bill out regularly. 🙂
You can look through the FAQs on this question, Hilary. This is the down side and the risk of something like this. But from what I have read there are families who have had astronomical needs met through this type of plan. People are very generous.
I was recently at a multi regional church conference. And they had a spokesman from one of these. I’m sorry the name escapes me at the moment. But our organization presidents wife went thru a bout of cancer and I believe it was completely paid for. Another pastor friend recently had to have some neck vertebrae fusion surgery and it was taken care of as well. I’ll look for the information I picked up and add it to Andrea’s list if it’s not included.
I forgot — I even posted yesterday about cash prices for healthcare. Some of the nurses I work with didn’t even know there is often an up-front cash price that is cheap! 🙂 {well, sort of cheap}
Thank you for sharing this! During the last year, our out-of-pocket tripled on the insurance we’ve had for 10 years. Living in Montana, medical sharing laws get tricky…but I love the idea of it so much (and no paying into a system that supports procedures to which I am ethically/morally opposed), that you have spurned me on to research this again!
It does take some research and a leap of faith. Thanks for the encouragement, Chaya and Kristin.
This has been a topic on my mind lately. I love the info you provide and I’d love to look into the Christian medical sharing. I’ve heard lots about it!
This is really great. I’m going to go over this with my husband this week 🙂
I just had to cancel my health care plan. In this day and age it’s either eat healthy food or pay Obamacare. We have always used alternative care and paid cash, when we needed care. In 3 months I have put out almost 1300.00 for Doctors that I wouldn’t have normally went to. Because my insurance didn’t cover alternative care.
Regarding something big like cancer…..many of us don’t want to go the conventional route with that either. We’d have to pay out of pocket for an alternative facility anyway. And in regard to some heroic measures with horrific accidents, maybe end of life decisions will be more clear. Does life support really fit our Christian worldview? “To die is gain!” I’m prolife, but I don’t want to devastate my family financially at the end….tough questions arise as to when we’ve reasonably left things in God’s hands or when we are offering tons of money to the god of technology to prolong life.
So glad the medical sharing programs were able to be exempt from the Obamacare disaster.
What about the cost of insulin every month for your son? Ours has Type 1 and a host of other issues, but the cost of the insulin as I know it would be hundreds each month.
Because we are self pay they give us samples. So far we haven’t had to buy insulin. In addition, they gave us a 25 dollar prescription card to show (we haven’t had to use it because we keep getting samples.) If you email me directly, Andrea I can give you the details on the plan. Our insurance plan didn’t cover the insulin, so we have been getting samples for the last 5 years.
Direct email:
andrea@it-takes-time.com
Wowwwww, that is AMAZING. Who is providing the samples to you? Your Endo? I have a T1D 12 yo daughter and am navigating this for a few months for her. Can I email you too on the info for this? I see the response was a few years ago so I’d love to know if it’s stikl current. Blessings!
Very interesting read Andrea. Thank you so much for sharing this information. It’s really important for people to know they have choices.
Hi Andrea,
We are members of Samaritan too. It is a wonderful ministry. I had to have 4 separate oral surgeries (gum grafting for severe recession) over a span of 10 months. This as you know is not covered by Samaritan. But we submitted it as a special need and the cards with encouragement and small monetary gifts came pouring in. It didn’t cover all the cost but was such a blessing none the less! Then Samaritan sent us a check that covered some more of the cost – we were blown away!
We do our best to eat a plant based whole food diet and get plenty of exercise to keep ourselves out of the Doctor’s office. My older son had a bout with vertigo that lasted a month. He did research and found exercises to do that completely cleared it up with out having to see a doctor – PTL! So being a part of Samaritan has really motivated us to look at taking care of ourselves through the most natural ways possible which has been a blessing for us as a family.
So glad you shared this information – and I hope your readers will check into it!
I have been reading about these types of options, but there doesn’t seem to be anything available for non-Christian families. I think these are a wonderful option though. I cannot stand being mandated to have health insurance or having to pay a penalty…it is just ridiculous. Thanks for sharing this.
Amanda,
You’re right – these are faith-based. I wonder if there is anything out there that isn’t. If you find one I would love to add it to this post.
Thanks so much for sharing this! We’ve been considering alternatives to our current health insurance, and even possibly a home business and how that would impact the situation. I hadn’t heard about the sharing of costs, but considering we don’t go to the doctor often (and like you, have improved our health through foods and natural remedies), this might be a very viable option. Thank you so much!!
It really is a viable option – especially with a home-based business. Nice to hear from you, Tiffany.
This is great! After a trip to the ER during college and fighting with the insurance company for 6 YEARS just to get the ambulance bill payed for, I was done with it. When my husband and I got married we signed up with Christian Healthcare Ministriesand have been blessed to be a part of it since then. It is so amazing that our family of 6 can be covered for less than $150 a month (granted, we’re on the lowest plan), and it’s wonderful to know that our money actually goes to help people, not to build a company.
This is awesome to hear, Raia. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience. I’m sure this will help others as they consider this option.
Thank you for sharing that there are other options out there! Pinning and sharing!
Thanks for taking the time to respond, Kelly. Nice to connect with you.
This was really interesting to read! We are currently uncovered since my husband got laid off. We’ll get his work healthcare back in August, but we’ve been wondering what to do in the meantime. Our son qualifies for medical assistance due to his heart defect, so he is covered, but hubs and I are not. This is definitely something worth looking into for us! Out of pocket health care plans are just far too expensive!
I’ve had a friend mention that they have signed up for this. I need to talk to my husband more about it. It sounds like the way to go. Our insurance is pointless when it doesn’t pay for what we actually need.
We use Christian Healthcare Ministries which is similar to Samaritans and it’s been a really good fit for us. One misconception is that if you have something big happen – like get cancer- and have insurance you don’t have to worry. My brother in law has brain cancer and his medicine is $1000 a month AFTER insurance. My sister still has to call around and apply to programs through the drug company to get additional discounts. Sometimes they are approved and sometimes they are not. Also, his insurance won’t pay for any alternative treatments. Traditional insurance isn’t what it used to be.
Are you free to use an alternative type of doctor, such as a naturopath, with Christian Healthcare Ministries?
Hi Meghan!
Absolutely. You choose your health care.
Hey there! This information is very helpful; thank you for posting. I do have a few questions regarding doctor’s visits for people who have chronic disabilities.
I have health insurance through my university and my prescription refills are covered under it. However, I have to go to 2 visits twice a year to see my neurologist, the dentist, and I have an annual visit to the eye doctor. I am 28 years old and will be graduating May 2016. I’m very unsure of where I’ll be after graduation, would this be a viable option for someone in my situation?
Thanks!
Hi Danielle! Well, that depends really. I might add up all those visits and see how it compares to the monthly fee for Samaritan and for regular insurance. You can contact Samaritan and ask them what they think. I have found them tremendously helpful.
Thanks for this. I’ve often thought about it. And wondered the details. We have fairly good insurance thru my husband’s work. The only reason that so far stops me is the upfront cost. Having that upfront. But now I wonder (because I don’t keep track of those things) how much is being taken out of hubby’s paycheck every week to pay for that. And now I wish I had grabbed more flyers from a spokesman in October. For my children. Employed but not insured, (other than still on ours for another year) and married w/ two littles and in grad school and not (at the moment ) employed.
These aren’t easy decisions that’s for sure, Carol. It’s nice to know there are options, though. I’d be interested if you find out the name of the organization you spoke with.